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Could you manage without internet access?

I'm a self-confessed internet addict, spending a good deal of my working life online, and I'm afraid I have to check my emails, even when I'm on holiday.

I'm not alone but I wonder just how many of you also recognise the symptoms in yourselves - would you be OK without the internet for a couple of weeks, or if you're honest, would you feel something was missing if you didn't get your daily on-line fix?

I've not read all the posts, so I may be doubling up here!
We used to have Librarys, where we could go and refer, consult, investigate etc, we could also read newspapers!
We also had catalogues for shopping!
Letter writing was common!
A Home had encyclopedias!
We now have the internet!
So as said previously, "In a word, No"
The internet is much more fun!!

Critics of the internet say that it keeps people from doing 'worthwhile things' like reading. What they seem to miss is the fact that more or less everything on the internet involves reading. People who like web forums, for instance, probably read more than they would if they didn't have internet access. They are almost certainly better informed on all kinds of subjects as a result.

The internet is here to stay, there can be no question about that, and the next generation of children will grow up to accept it as a normal and essential aspect of their lives.

As it has ben said, unless you actualy need it to make a living, most of us can do without, although life would be a bit harder having to queue up for shopping, paying Bills etc, but other people without a computer (or smartphone) do, so I expect I could manage.

It might even do me good to get out more and talk to real people.

My biggest bugbear is not the Internet, but the people who use their mobile phones in public area's like Theatre or on Public Transport and talk (What sounds like) the top of their voice.

"What they seem to miss is the fact that more or less everything on the internet involves reading."

Unquestionably, true!

When I was at school many, many years ago, my worst subject was writing. My spelling was quite appalling and I had a general hate of anything that was remotely connected with the written word. Could do better, was a regular and monotonous comment that will stay with me until I die.

When computers came along, I learned to write sufficiently well to make myself understood. The use of a spell checker, helped me learn how to spell correctly and while I'll admit to my grammar on occasions being a little lacking, it's improved unbelievably over the years. Writing technical answers here on the PCA forums, really makes you focus on whether your answer could be understood by someone else.

For me, computers are not only a bit of an obsession, but also a tool that has helped me personally no end.

Furthermore, my newly found confidence in writing, has made it not something to be hated, but an enjoyable experience.

So quite how critics can substantiate their claim, is a puzzle.

I saw the benefits of computers early on and as a result, made sure my children had full access to computers way before they were the norm at school. This has had major benefits for them, and they can type faster than I can think, even though they have never been formally trained as typists.

The Internet is as important as the industrial revolution, or any other major change in our history. To claim otherwise, would be folly. To be without it, would have far reaching effects, not only on individuals, but across business worldwide.

Good post. It sums up how the internet - and computers generally - can be a force for good.

I remember how, years ago, people used to complain about children watching 'too much' TV. They said we would end up with a generation of people unable to think for themselves. Some of those children are the adults who now run big corporations, and design complex software.

Actually, yes there is. History teaches us that if there's one constant, its change.

The internet is only here until it's replaced by something else. As for what, I haven't a clue. If I knew, then maybe I'd end up with a fortune to make mark zuckerberg's facebook floatation look like petty cash. (Or, when I look at the internets inventors, maybe not.) One prediction I feel safe in making is that the 'wow' factor will feature heavily in it. To everyone in their 50's and beyond, I would ask what would their reaction have been if they were given a glimpse of todays web in their childhood?

By the time of Win XP I was still saying that I could not justify the cost of a home PC as I would have very little use for one.

Wow, how things change in just a few years. My wife runs her own business on the internet, I own 2 manufacturing companies that rely on email contacts, internet banking and web site. I am a keen digital photographer relying on software for processing images. I do personal internet banking, shopping etc. I have written & published a book on the internet and so much more.

Holidays are a welcome break, I can do 2 weeks without as I have able management at work, and wife shuts down business for the duration.

That's right, but I didn't say the Internet isn't going to change; of course it will change. I said that it was here to stay, and that's a certainty. A world-wide network, enabling very rapid communication between people at almost no cost isn't going to be superseded. Neither is the concept of a network enabling individuals to share information with others, anywhere on the planet, or a network that enables commercial transactions to take place millions of times, at any hour of the day and night.

Technologies will change,hardware and software will, too, and speeds will no doubt increase, but the internet is definitely here to stay.

Your post illustrates just how liberating the internet can be. It enables people to work from home, to bank from home or from the office, and it has enabled the start-up and success of literally hundreds of thousands of businesses that might otherwise not have existed.

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